13 - The 13th of the 28 Principles in The Urantia Book
the 13th of the 28 principles in the urantia book
The 13th of the
28 Principles in The Urantia Book
The Great Question Number Four
4. Is faith—the supreme assertion of human thought—desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe.
The Great Goal of Hue-manimal Existence
It is to the mind of perfect poise, housed in a body of clean habits, stabilized neural energies, and balanced chemical function—when the physical, mental, and spiritual powers are in triune harmony of development—that a maximum of light and truth can be imparted with a minimum of temporal danger or risk to the real welfare of such a being. By such a balanced growth does man ascend the circles of planetary progression one by one, from the seventh to the first.
On the Path to Understanding the "Mastery of Self"
"Self-mastery is a challenge for every individual. Only we can control our appetites and passions. Self-mastery cannot be bought by money or fame. It is the ultimate test of our character. It requires climbing out of the deep valleys and scaling our own Mount Everests."
James E. Faust
On the Path to Understanding the "Mastery of Self"
It is accurate to say that "understanding" the 28 principles of "high mortal philosophy" found in Paper 48, The Morontia Life required the asking of many questions and not a small amount of meditative thinking on them.
Beyond The Shadows on the Wall...
Just a few days ago, I had a conversation with a close friend, who asked me (in so many words) what the difference between beLIEf and faith is.
My response went something like this. BeLIEf is the level of
virtual reality--the shadows on the inner theater screen of the neural network to mind-connection. Faith is the vibrational transition inward and upward into morontial and spiritual actualities-realities.
virtual reality--the shadows on the inner theater screen of the neural network to mind-connection. Faith is the vibrational transition inward and upward into morontial and spiritual actualities-realities.
If a wise man speaks only of what he knows, the man of faith is ever knowing of actualities--realities that far transcend "mere beLIEving."
While the vibrational path into "living faith-knowing" must ever begin within the framework (scaffolding) of beLIEfs, and the "transition itself" may be said to lie in the realm of the metaphysical, on the other side of beLIEf and the metaphysical, the great gulf between beLIEf and faith is clearly viewed and perceived.
The hungry with desire child of God is ever willing to make the effort required to...
1. self-correct, self-discipline and control the hue-manimal self, self-direct back to being spirit-led, and ever-striving for true character attainment: make the effort required to replace unclean habits of body and mind with better ones--negative thoughts with positive ones--character deficiencies with truer character intellectual ideals and spiritual values, beLIEf with faith-knowing-trust in Father's will--belligerent self-assertion with honestly sincere and decisive cooperation with Father's indwelling divine spirit--the Thought Adjuster.
It is a choice to remain hue-manimal (virtual consciousness) and robotically beLIEve that the shadows on the inner cave wall are real, just as surely as it is a choice to remove one's own shackles that bind and imprison the "gift of mind" and walk out of the cave into the clear light of faith-transcension into true character trust in and ever-momentary re-alignment with Paradise Father's will.
With these thoughts in mind, let us explore the 13th of the 28 principles in The Urantia Book.
The Great Call to Self-correct
In youthful and often "willful and belligerent" ignorance, the "great inner call" to self-correct fell on deaf ears.
- What did "falling on deaf ears" more specifically mean in my growing crisis period?
Looking back...I see that it meant...
- I was almost wholly self-centered,
- self-focused on being right at any cost, no matter the damage done to friendships and general relationships,
- self-focused on what were pleasurable smelling and tasting foods going into my mouth, instead of focusing on what was healthy to eat,
- self-indulgent in the taking of physical poisons into my body, and
- conveniently hiding behind an evolving intellect, rather than sincerely attempting to live according to principles and values.
But in order to discover the truth that I was living more at the level of robotic hue-manimal consciousness--virtual beLIEf reality--than in "living faith-trust," attempting to align my will with Father's will, my life had to completely fall apart.
This happened in 1976. It lasted until 1979. Within that time period I experienced being homeless, penniless, no vehicle and wholly dependent upon the good will of other fellow children of God.
In 1979, I reached rock bottom. It was then I read through the 28 principles and this one hit me like a ton of bricks.
48:7.15 13. Stars are best discerned from the lonely isolation of experiential depths, not from the illuminated and ecstatic mountain tops.
Turning this Principle into a Personal "I am" Declaration
Even in the depths of lonely experiential isolation, I will "allow" myself to discern my "inner light of truth," not necessarily when everything is going great for me.
Always remember: it is not possible to grow into the "living spiritual value" contained within an intellectual principle typed onto a page; you must "internalize" the principle by converting it into a personal "I am" declaration of the person you desire to become.
Reaching the lonely isolation of experiential depths felt like my life was over; there was nothing left to live for. All of my idealistic false hopes and dreams had been shattered.
But from that lowest point of lonely isolation of experiential depths I began to discern the stars--the "light of truth" within me.
I began to internalize these 28 principles of high mortal philosophy. And not just these 28 principles, but indeed many other "intellectual stars" found within the 2,097 pages of The Urantia Book.
In transitioning from "mere beLIEf" into "living faith," I finally began to realize that I had to embrace these principles of high mortal philosophy and make a sincere effort, in cooperation with my indwelling Thought Adjuster, to daily live these principles.
In so doing, I began to slowly but surely, through many more mistakes made--to keep getting back up after falling down, again and gain--to shake off the dust, and "allow" myself to transform into the living values of "truer character."
In the intervening decades, I have again and again returned to "the lonely depths of experiential isolation." But never needing to hit rock bottom and experience the complete shattering necessary before 1979.
In the last 20 years, and without fanfare, I am metaphorically standing on the "ecstatic mountain top."
All I have to do is to look to the life of your Creator Son, Michael, Father, his bestowal incarnation as Joshua Ben Joseph, and the amazing unfolding of his life and teachings to know You, personality to personality.
While Your reality, Father, is beyond my comprehension, your true character is ever the most brilliant of all stars in my universe, shining forth as the most true character of trustworthiness, cosmic nobility and unselfish service this planet has ever witnessed.
The 13th principle is about self-correction. And it takes experiential spiritual courage to self-correct, self-discipline and exercise self-control, and ever-momentarily self-direct back to alignment with Father's will, by giving our most honestly sincere cooperation to the spirit-leading of the indwelling divine spirit--the Thought Adjuster.
The 13th of the 28 principles in The Urantia Book correlates to the individual child of God vibrationally responding to the marshalling impulse of the fourth (4th) Adjutant Mind spirit of Knowledge. The 13th principle is the first (1st) of the set of principles 13 through 16, which are the generalized requirements to experientially master the fourth (4th) psychic circle of experiential spiritual knowledge, also corresponding to the 4th planetary age and the 4th Mansion Training World educational and socialization equivalency requirements.
Note: Any of the first twelve principles representing the generalized requirements for the mastery of the seventh, six and fifth psychic circles of experiential spiritual intuition, experiential spiritual understanding, and experiential spiritual courage, which were not mastered (after entrance in the 4th psychic circle) will be carried over into the fourth (4th) for further experiential acquirement.
The Great Goal of Hue-man Attainment
- I am the mind of perfect poise.
- I am housed in a body of clean habits, and clear and pure thinking.
- I am stabilized in neural energies.
- I am balanced in chemical function.
- I am ever-momentarily transferring all mortal experiential meanings and values into the unifying whole.
- I am ever-momentarily unifying the physical, mental, and spiritual powers with the "I am that I am" personality.
- I am ever-momentarily giving you, my indwelling divine partner and Thought Controller, my most honest, sincere, and dedicated cooperation in attaining to "supremacy of spirit domination over mind and matter."
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Supplemental Reading
- What are the four cosmic dimensions of personality unification?
1. Body 1. self-correction
2. Mind 2. self-discipline / self-control
3. Soul 3. self-direction to spirit-leading,
4. Spirit 4. self-mastery
Personality unity self-realizes supremacy of spirit domination over mind and matter.
What is your definition of religion?
How do you define 'your religion?'
How do you keep your religion...pure...?
Personal religion must be kept uncontaminated by:
1. maintaining a self-corrective philosophy of daily living.
2. maintaining non-involvement and impartiality with regard to all social, economic, and political alliances.
3. seeking out and maintaining creative, comforting, and love-expanding relations with one's fellow beings.
4. enhancing personal progress of spiritual insight and the appreciation of cosmic values.
5. prevention of fanaticism by the compensations of the scientific mental attitude.
What is a character deficiency?
What is self-correction of a character-deficiency?
What are the steps involved in correcting one's own character-deficiencies?
What replaces a character-deficiency?
Does a character-deficiency automatically disappear when one is exercising self-correction, self-control and self-direction?
1. Self-correction.
99:3.7 The great weakness of all this unrecognized and unconscious type of religious activity is that it is unable to profit from open religious criticism and thereby attain to profitable levels of self-correction. It is a fact that religion does not grow unless it is disciplined by constructive criticism, amplified by philosophy, purified by science, and nourished by loyal fellowship.
2. Self-control.
54:1.6 True liberty is the associate of genuine self-respect; false liberty is the consort of self-admiration. True liberty is the fruit of self-control; false liberty, the assumption of self-assertion. Self-control leads to altruistic service; self-admiration tends towards the exploitation of others for the selfish aggrandizement of such a mistaken individual as is willing to sacrifice righteous attainment for the sake of possessing unjust power over his fellow beings.
3. Self-direction.
36:5.8. 3. The spirit of courage—the fidelity endowment—in personal beings, the basis of character acquirement and the intellectual root of moral stamina and spiritual bravery. When enlightened by facts and inspired by truth, this becomes the secret of the urge of evolutionary ascension by the channels of intelligent and conscientious self-direction.
4. Supremacy of spirit domination over mind and matter.
109:3.2 ...comparatively few will elect to ascend the moral heights beyond the hills of self-mastery and character acquirement to attain the higher levels of emerging spirituality.
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